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Nurses’ pay erosion: starting salaries £8,000 behind where they should be
Below-inflation pay rises in the past 15 years represent a cumulative loss of almost £70,000 for a band 5 nurse, RCN says as members ponder this year’s 3.6% pay award. College research lays bare the gap between what it believes nursing staff should have been awarded, and the pay rises they actually received since 2010. It is urging the government to reverse the ‘collapse’ in wages for nurses at the start of their careers if it is going to address nurse recruitment and retention issues. It says it should be the retail price index and not the cumulative price index that the government uses when setting NHS pay awards.
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